This was the weekend when Hansi Flick’s Barcelona took a huge stride towards retaining their La Liga title, picking up three vital points while their El Clasico rivals crashed and burned in Mallorca.
Barcelona’s clash with Atletico Madrid, in the late Saturday kick-off, was the SBOTOP match of the weekend and, boy, did it deliver as the Blaugrana won an action packed tussle 2-1, against a battling Atletico after the hosts had gone down to ten men. Their lead at the top of the table has stretched to a significant seven points and the latest La Liga 2026 betting odds took a sharp turn towards Catalonia, as relegation threatened Real Mallorca stunned Real Madrid with the very same score line.
Barca had to come from behind to secure the points in Madrid and they left it late before Robert Lewandowski sent the travelling Catalans wild, knowing full well that Los Blancos had already fallen. Both Barcelona and Atleti had their chances in the early exchanges, Antoine Griezmann coming close for the hosts while Fermin Lopez threatened at the other end, and when Los Rojiblancos went ahead through Giuliano Simeone it looked like they would go into the break with their noses in front.
But in a dramatic turnaround it was the Blaugrana who went in with a big advantage.
Marcus Rashford, rejuvenated since his loan move from Manchester United to Barcelona, levelled the scores after a smart link-up with Dani Olmo. And, on the stroke of half time, Atleti’s evening collapsed as Nico Gonzalez fouled Lamine Yamal, denying him a goal-scoring opportunity, and his second yellow card was upgraded by VAR to a straight red.
It looked like the numbers were evened up when Gerard Martin wiped out Thiago Almada early in the second half, and the ref waived a red card in the defender’s direction. But the visitors had VAR to thank again, as the card was downgraded to a yellow. It looked like Diego Simeone’s men would hold out for a point but when Lewi pounced on a rebound, with just two minutes remaining, the shockwaves went through both sides of Madrid.
This was a brilliant match for the neutral and a great result for the Catalans; and the two teams get it on again in the Champions League quarter finals on Wednesday; and I for one can’t wait.
Earlier on Saturday Real Mallorca hosted Real Madrid and put a huge dent in Los Blancos’ title hopes while, at the same time, climbing out of the relegation zone, with eight games still to play. After a cagey first half it was the hosts who went into the break with a lead, when Pablo Maffeo crossed and Manu Morlanes took a touch before rifling his shot home into the bottom corner.
Mallorca repelled the Los Blancos’ attack until the 88th minute when Eder Militao rose highest to head home a Trent Alexander-Arnold corner. A draw would have been a poor result for Alvaro Arbeloa’s men but it got even worse when Vedat Muriqi hammered home his 19th goal of the season and gave Mallorca a relegation battle boost. Meanwhile Los Blancos need to pick themselves up before they meet Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday.
In other La Liga 2026 news, fifth placed Real Betis hosted Espanyol on Saturday, and Betis stayed there after the two teams played out a goalless draw. Los Periqos are still waiting for a first league win in 2026.
Elsewhere Real Sociedad’s recovery continued to gather momentum as the Basque side moved up to sixth place thanks to a 2-0 win over 19th placed Levante. Jon Martin and Brais Mendez were on target to give Sociedad a comfortable afternoon; and it could have been even better had the woodwork not saved Levante twice. La Real are still targeting that fifth place.
As well as the title race taking a big turn, it has been a huge weekend for the clubs at the bottom end of the Primeria Division table too. Elche lost 1-0 away to Rayo Vallecano. On a disastrous Friday night for Los Franjiverdes, the visitors’ captain, Pedro Bigas, was sent off in the first half for two bad fouls, but Elche held out until the 74th minute when Randy Nteka gave the hosts all three points.
Elche are down to 18th place with Levante a position below and bottom club Real Oviedo are due to host Sevilla on Sunday. So this was a truly epic weekend, for Real Mallorca who climbed up to 17th while doing Barcelona a huge favour too.
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